Wheel for automobiles.



E. K. BAKER.

WHEEL )EOR` AUTOMOBILES.

APPLICATION FILED FBB.11, 1911. i

Patented May 5, 1914.

UNrrED srarns PATENT oracle.

ERLE K. BAKER, 0F CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNR TO UNIVERSAL RIM COMPANY, or

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

WHEEL FOR AUTOMOBILES.

Specication of Letters Patent. Application med February 1.1, 1911.

Serial No. 607,997.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, ERLE K. BAKER, a citiren of theUnited States, and a resident of Chicago, Cook county, Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Wheels for lowing is a full, true, clear, and exact description, such as will enable others skilled.

in the art to make and use the same.

My invention relates to improvements in automobile wheels and demountable tire rims therefor.

The objects of my invention are to improve the construction, simplify the operalate at times of mounting andl demounting the rim, while at the same time the rim with a suiciently large number of points of support upon the wheel .to prevent detrimental distortion or bending of the rim by said clamping shocks received while the providing wheel is in use.

My invention consists in the improve' ments hereinafter described and particularly pointed out in the claims and wherein and whereby the foregoing objects are attained.

My invention will be more readily understood by reference to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specication, and wherein I have illustrated several preferred forms of my invention.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of an automobile wheel and demountable rim embodying my invention; Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectional view thereof on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a similarly enlarged cross section of the wheel and rim on the line 3 3 of Fig. 1 disclosing the supporting studs or projections of the rmi Fig. et is a similar cross section illustrating a modification of my invention in which I arrange or form the supporting studs or spacers upon the periphery or felly band of Automobiles, of which the fol-A devices or by roadl the wheel; and, Fig. 5 is another similar crossY section, disclosing a modied form of felly band whichfI sometimes employ in? stead of the Figs. 3 and 4.

, As shown in the drawings, an automobile -wheel generally comprises a hub 3, spokes 4, a wooden felly 5, and its metal felly band 6. In said drawings 7 illustrates or represents the tire, rim carrying a pneumatic tire 8. Such rims are characterized by a substantially cylindrical body portion 7 and upwardlyand outwardly flared edge portions 7 terminating in flanges conformed to the tire. It should be understood that the rim 7 is either an endless rim or ring, or if of the transverselysplit type has its ends nietallically secured or tied together to prevent its expansion by the clamping force of the wedges. I have herein shown a split rim of the kind which is described and Patented May 5, 1914.

constructions illustrated in claimed in` my copending application Serial Y No. 606,992, iled February 6, 1911, in which the metallic bond between the ends of the split rim comprises a vplate 7a and studs or projections 7". The valve stem 8a ypasses through this plate; The studs 7b enter holes n constitute a driver bethefrim by which the from slipping or creeping 5a in the felly and tween the wheel and rim is prevented on the wheel. of a size to conform to the tire to be carried thereby, whereas the wheel periphery or bandis of smaller circumference. quence an annular space 9 is left between the wheel and the inner periphery of the rim. It is usual to close this space, on the inner side of the wheel, by means of an annular In practice such rims are made In conseflange 6 formed on the felly band 6, which performsthe of mountabley rim 7 at the inner side of the wheel. The words-,inner side-as here used, mean t-he side toward the body of the automobile.

ce osupporting the de- To support the `outer side of the rim upon the wheel, and to approximately center it thereon, and to secure it in place vupon thel wheel it has been customary to use a large number of clamping wedges, like unto the wedge lugs 10, bolted or screwed upon the wheel felly and having points or ends occupying said annular space, on the outer side of the wheel. A serious objection to Such arrangement is that the unequal tightening of the clamping wedges throws the lio upon the tire and objectionable vibration? Furthermore, the clampingv devices employed are expensive'andit is obvious that the time required to mount ordemount a rim which is held by such devices is directly proportional to the number thereof and that the chances of losing parts thereof likewise increase with their number. I have been able to overcome all of these objections by means of the improvements disclosed in and suggested-by the accompanying drawings.

Referring again to the drawings it will be seen that the wedge portions 10 of the clamping devices 10. enter the annular space 9. They are operated by screiY bolts 11 and co-acting with the flange 6 they serve to put the rim under tension upon the wheel and hold it against lateral movement thereon. As intimated I use fewer of these clamping devices with the objectof reducing the number of points at which the structure must be manually operated or manipulated to clamp and unclamp the demountable rim. Each clamping ldevice 10 consists of a wedge shaped block Vhaving a toe or point portion 10" adapted to be forced vinto the annular space 9 and having its outer face 1Gb conformed tofl thel beveled portion 7 of the rim. As here shown the wedging blocks force the rim against the flange 6 and by reason of their beveled faces and that of the Hange 6, an expanding or distending' pressure \is applied to the 'rim- Thus the rim is firmly seatedl upon the Wheel with the wedges 10 resting upon the felly band to take the lateral strains and help support the rim. For the purpose of obtaining the force Cil necessary to actuate the wedgin members, I provide each of them with a bo t 11 which i extends through a hole 10c in the shank 10d of the wedging block 10 and works in a nut 12, fixed on the inner side of the wheel. To facilitate the removal of the wedges I employ an inner shoulder or backing sleeve 13 on the bolt. This construction of the wedge lug, :1s-disclosed in Fig. 2 and characterized by the b olt 117 the sleeve 13 and nut 12, is not claimed in thisapplication but is specifically described and is claimed in my coending divisional application, Serial No. 636,693, filed July 3rd, 1911. To properly center the rim upon the wheel when it is rst placed thereon and to support the several arcs of the rim between the Widely separated clamping devices I employ a structure or structures by which 'the rim and the wheel periphery are placed substantially in metallic contact at points intermediate of the several clamping devices,` yet .not so "Figs 4 and 5 tightly as to prevent the easy mounting and .demounting of the rim. I prefer to accomplishthis effect by providing the rim or the felly band with fixed metallic studs or projections 14, 15 or 16 as indicated in the drawing. 'I preferably distribute them circumferentially, 'ntermediate of the clamping members, 'which are preferably spaced around the wheel felly at equal distances from each other. As many of the spacers as desired may be used and they may bedis-l posed in any suitable manner around the wheel. These projections or studs support the portions of the rim intermediate of the clamping devices and for supporting the rim y andpreventing its distortion they are as effective as the clamping wedges and they add no appreciable cost or weight to the wheel.

Thus a minimum number of wedge lugs 10 may be used with as many projections or spacers as are necessary to adequately preserve the circularity of the rim. These spacers may consist of broadly tapered j heads, studs or projections on the inner periphery of the rim, such as 14 in Fig. 3, or on the felly band as 15 in Fig. 4, or they may be given the form of elongated studs or ribs 16 shown in Fig. 5 and secured in any suitable manner to the rim or felly. While it is evident that the shape, number and the.

distribution of these centering and supporting studs with respect tothe fastening members or wedge lugs is best determined by the particular condition to be met, I prefer to arrange them as shown.

I have secured the best results with studs on the inner periphery of the rim adjacentl to its outside edge as shown in Fig. 3. An advantage which I gain in placing the studs at the outer side of the central plane of the rim and wheel is that they are more effective in cooperating with the wedge lugs. Thus the rim is supported in substantially both of its side planes, by the. fia-nge 6 on one side and the lugs and the spacers on thev other side. These spacers do not require any manipulation whatever'in assembling or disassembling the rim and wheel, and in addition to this advantage they materially larly if they are made round or broadly assist in the assembling operation, partlcutapered, as I have shown in the drawings.

I have also found it'desirable to make the spacers several thousandths of an inch shorter than the depth of the annular spacev i 9, so that therim will go on the wheel easily.

,This diderence, however, is negligible in its 'eect o-n the eircularity of the rim.

The modifiedv constructions represented by are not separately claimed in this application but are both described and claimed in my r I g No. 741,299, filed January 10th,`,1913.

I-Iaving thus described my invention, I

v i divisional application Serial Patent 1. The combination of an automobiley wheel and a demountable rim with a driver joining said rim` and wheel, clamping lugs circumferentially spaced about said wheel and presenting wedge portions between said rim and wheehyclamping bolts therefor and said rim and wheel being relatively formed to provide circumferentially spaced .points of supporting contact for the body of the rim between the several clamping lugs, substantially as and for the purposes specified.

2. The combination of an automobile `-wheel and a demountable rimfwith a driver joining said rim and wheel, clamping lugs circumferentially spaced labout said wheel and presenting wedge portions between said rim kand wheel, clamping bolts therefor, and wheel contacting fixed projections on the inner periphery of said rim circumferentially between the several clamping lugs,

substantially as and. for the purposes specified. y

3. rIThe combinatlon of an automoblle wheel and a demountable rim with a driver joining said rim and wheel, clamping lugs circumferentially -spaced about said wheel and presenting wedge portions between said rim and Wheel, clamping bolts therefor-5 and wheel contacting beveled 'projections fixed on the inner periphery 'of said rir'n circumferentially between the several clamping lugs, substantially as and for the purposes specified. f

4. The A combination of automobileA wheel and a demountable, rim with a driver joining said rim and wheel, clamping' lugs circumferentially spaced about said wheel ,and presenting wedge portions between said vrim and wheel, clamping` bolts therefor, and

wheel contacting fixed projections on the inner periphery bf said rim circumferentially between the several clamping lugs and adjacent to the outer side of the rim and wheel, ysubstantially as and for the purposes specified. l l c In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand', this 18th day of January, 1911, in the presence -oftwo subscribing witnesses.

l ERLE K. BAKER.

lVitnesses:

JOHN R. LEFEVRE, `EDGAR F. BEAUBIEN. 

